• 근관절건강학회지
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• 제27권2호
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• pp.122-131
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• 2020

Purpose: This study aims to investigate major traumatic events experienced by nurses in regional trauma centers and explore the relationship among their traumatic events experience, perceived stress, and stress coping. Methods: Data were collected from 208 nurses in the trauma emergency room (trauma-bay) and trauma intensive care unit at four regional trauma centers. Results: The mean score of the traumatic events experience was 44.3 out of 76 points. The scores for physical injuries caused by traffic accidents or falls as well as patient care with abnormal behaviors were high. Significantly positive correlations among traumatic events experience, perceived stress, and stress coping were identified. Conclusion: Nurses working in the regional trauma centers experienced many various traumatic events, leading to high levels of stress. This study suggests that it is necessary to establish a regular surveillance system for nurses' traumatic events experience and perceived stress.

• Journal of Trauma and Injury
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• 제24권2호
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• pp.118-124
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• 2011

Purpose: The incidence of multiple trauma is increasing nowadays and is the leading cause of death among young adults. Initial treatment is well known to be crucial in multiple trauma victims. However, many indiscriminate transfers occur due to the lack of a well-organized trauma system in Korea. The objective of this study is to demonstrate the current serious state in which major trauma patients are transferred to the Emergency Medical Center of a university hospital from another medical center. Methods: From November 2009 to October 2010, we performed a retrospective study to analyze the characteristics of patients who visited the Ajou University Medical Center located in Gyeonggi-do. We evaluated the ISS (injury severity score), and a score over 15 point was identified as major trauma. The major trauma patients were separated into two groups according to the visit route, and the characteristics of each group were analyzed. Results: Among the 88,862 patients who visited to the Emergency Medical Center, trauma patients accounted for 19,950, and 343 of them were evaluated as major trauma patients. Among the 343 patients, 170 patients had been transferred from other medical centers. The proportion of males to females was 3.3:1, and the mean ISS was 22.7. The leading cause of trauma was motor vehicle accidents. Of the total 170 patients, 77.6% were admitted to the Intensive care unit and 36.3% underwent surgery. The 170 patients that had been transferred to our medical center, 78.8% were transferred from Gyeonggi-do, 15.3% were transferred from other regions, and 5.9% were miscellaneous. Conclusion: Almost half of the major trauma victims treat at our medical center had been transferred from other medical centers. Establishing a traumatic system, supported by well-organized trauma centers and emergency medical services, that can reduce inappropriate transfers among medical facilities is essential.

• Journal of Trauma and Injury
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• 제29권2호
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• pp.51-55
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• 2016

Isolated injury to the pancreas after abdominal trauma is uncommon, and a delay in diagnosis and treatment can increase the morbidity and mortality. Therapeutic decisions with respect to pancreatic trauma are usually made based on the site of injury and the status of the pancreatic ductal system. In this report, we describe the surgical management of pancreatic head transection as an isolated injury following blunt abdominal trauma. A 55-year-old man presented with epigastric pain that radiated to the back. Abdominal computed tomography revealed a hematoma in the pancreatic head and upstream dilatation of the main pancreatic duct. Endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography showed complete disruption of and contrast leakage from the main pancreatic duct in the pancreatic head region with a nonenhanced upstream duct. Emergency pancreaticoduodenectomy was successfully performed, and the patient was discharged on postoperative day 9 without any complications.

• Journal of Trauma and Injury
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• 제30권4호
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• pp.120-125
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• 2017

Purpose: The aim of this study was to identify clinical outcome and characteristics of trauma patients via emergency medical services (EMS). Methods: Medical records of the trauma patients visiting the emergency department were retrospectively collected and analyzed from January 2015 to June 2016 in the single institution. Of 529 registered patients, 371 patients were transported by - were enrolled. The parameters including age, gender, injury mechanism, Glasgow coma scale on arrival, presence of shock (systemic blood pressure <90 mmHg) on arrival, time to arrival from accident to emergency room (ER), need for emergency procedures such as operation or angioembolization, need for intensive care unit (ICU) admission, injury severity score (ISS), the trauma and injury severity score, revised trauma score (RTS), length of stay, and mortality rate were collected. The SAS version 9.4 (SAS Institute, Cary, NC, USA) was used for the data analysis. Results: Arrival time from the field to the ER was significantly shorter in EMS group. However, overall outcomes including mortalities, length of stay in the ICU and hospital were same between both groups. Age, ISS, RTS, and injury mechanisms were significantly different in both groups. ISS, RTS, and age showed significant influence on mortality statistically (p<0.05). Conclusions: The time to arrival of EMS was fast but had no effect on length of hospital stay, mortality rate. Further research that incorporates pre-hospital factors influence clinical outcomes should be conducted to evaluate the effectiveness of such a system in trauma care of Korea.

• Clinics in Shoulder and Elbow
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• 제27권1호
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• pp.18-25
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• 2024

Background: The Discovery Elbow System (DES) utilizes a polyethylene bearing within the ulnar component. An exchange bearing requires preoperative freezing and implantation within 2 minutes of freezer removal to allow insertion. We report our outcomes and experience using this technique. Methods: This was an analysis of a two-surgeon consecutive series of DES bearing exchange. Inclusion criteria included patients in which exchange was attempted with a minimum 1-year follow-up. Clinical and radiographic review was performed 1, 2, 3, 5, 8 and 10 years postoperative. Outcome measures included range of movement, Oxford Elbow Score (OES), Mayo Elbow Performance Score (MEPS), complications and requirement for revision surgery. Results: Eleven DESs in 10 patients were included. Indications were bearing wear encountered during humeral component revision (n=5); bearing failure (n=4); and infection treated with debridement, antibiotics and implant retention (DAIR; n=2). Bearing exchange was conducted on the first attempt in 10 cases. One case required a second attempt. One patient developed infection postoperatively managed with two-stage revision. Mean follow-up of the bearing exchange DES was 3 years. No further surgery was required, with no infection recurrence in DAIR cases. Mean elbow flexion-extension and pronosupination arcs were 107°(±22°) and 140° (±26°). Mean OES was 36/48 (±12) and MEPS was 83/100 (±19). Conclusions: Our results support the use of DES bearing exchange in cases of bearing wear with well-fixed stems or acute infection. This series provides surgeons managing DES arthroplasty with management principles, successful and reproducible surgical techniques and expected clinical outcomes in performing DES polyethylene bearing exchange. Level of evidence: IV.

• Journal of Trauma and Injury
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• 제24권2호
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• pp.89-94
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• 2011

Purpose: A few studies have assessed the factors affecting the prognoses for major trauma patients and those improving the circumstances when dealing with the trauma system. In that light, we analyzed factors, such as pre-hospital factors, the time to admission, the length of stay in the emergency department (ED) and emergency operation, influencing the outcomes for trauma patients. Methods: The patients who visited our emergency department from April 1, 2009, to February 29, 2011, due to major trauma were enrolled in the study. The inclusion criterion was a revised trauma score (RTS) < 7 or injury severity score (ISS) ${\geq}$ 16. We used reviews of medical records, to analyze each step of emergency medical care with respect to patients' sex, age, visit time and visit date. Continuous variables were described as a median with an interquartile range, and we compared the variables between the survival and the mortality groups by using the Mann-Whitney U test. Fisher's exact test was used for nominal variables. Using the variables that showed statistical significance in univariate comparisons, we performed a logistic regression analysis, and we tested the model's adequacy by the using the Hosmer-Lemeshow method. Results: A total of 261 patients with major trauma satisfied either the RTS score criterion or the ISS score criterion. Excluding 12 patients with missing data, 249 patients were included in this study. The overall mortality rate was 16.9%. Time to ED arrival, time to admission, time of ED stay, RTS, ISS, and visit date being a holiday showed statistically significant differences between the survival and the mortality groups in the univariate analysis. RTS, ISS, length of ED stay, and visit date being a holiday showed statistical significance in the multivariate analysis. Conclusion: The mortality rate did not show a significant relationship with the time to ED arrival, use of 119, on time to admission. Rather, it elicited a quite significant correlation with the trauma scoring system (RTS and ISS), the time of ED stay, and the visit date being a holiday.

• Journal of Trauma and Injury
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• 제33권1호
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• pp.13-17
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• 2020

Purpose: Accurate and appropriate prehospital field triage is essential for a trauma system. The Korean trauma system (established in 2014) uses the trauma field triage algorithm of the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). This study evaluated the suitability of the CDC field triage criteria for major trauma cases (injury severity score >15) in Korea. Methods: This retrospective cohort study evaluated trauma patients who presented at the authors' regional trauma center from January 1 to May 7, 2017. The undertriage and overtriage rates of each CDC field triage step were calculated. Receiver operating characteristic curves were constructed, and the area under the curve (AUC) was evaluated for each step. Results: Among the 1,009 enrolled patients, 168 (16.7%) had major trauma. The undertriage/overtriage rates of each step (steps I, II, III, and IV) of CDC field triage were 9.2%/47.4%, 6.3%/50.8%, 4.5%/59.4%, and 5.3%/78.9%, respectively. The AUC values of each CDC triage step were 0.722, 0.783, 0.791, and 0.615, respectively. The AUC values of the separate components of each step (physiologic criteria, anatomic criteria, mechanism-of-injury criteria, and special considerations) were 0.722, 0.648, 0.647, and 0.456, respectively. Conclusions: The CDC field triage system is acceptable, but not ideal, for Korean trauma care. If we follow the protocol, it would be preferable to omit step IV. The Korean Triage and Acuity Scale may be a good indicator for in-hospital triage. However, a new triage protocol that is simple to estimate on-scene while having good performance should be developed.

• Journal of Trauma and Injury
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• 제23권1호
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• pp.6-15
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• 2010

Purpose: Trauma is one of the leading causes of death, especially among young people. Life-threatening conditions are very common in multiple-traumatized patients due to concurrent multi-organ injuries. Treating such severely injured patients is time critical. However, in Korea, the transfer of severely injured patients is not uncommon due to the lack of a mature trauma care system. In developed countries, the preventable trauma death rate is very low, but the rate is still very high in Korea. This study's objective was to demonstrate the current serious state in which severely injured patients have to be transferred from a Regional Emergency Medical Center even though it actually serves as a trauma center. Methods: Ajou University Medical Center is a tertiary hospital that serves as a trauma center in Gyeonggido. The medical records at Ajou University Medical Center for a 1-year period from January 1, 2008, to December 31, 2008, were retrospectively reviewed. A severely injured patient was defined as a patient who showed more than 15 point on the ISS (injury severity score) scale. We investigated the clinical characteristics of such patients and the causes of transfer. Results: Out of 81,718 patients who visited the Regional Emergency Medical Center, 19,731 (24.1%) were injured patients. Among them, 108 severely-injured patients were transferred from one Regional Emergency Medical Center to other hospitals. The male-to-female ratio was about 3.5:1, and the mean ISS was 23.08. The most common mechanism of injury was traffic accidents (41.7%). A major cause of transfer was the shortage of intensive care units (44.4%); another was for emergent operation (27.8%). Most of the hospitals that received the severely-injured patients were secondary hospitals (86.1%). Conclusion: Although the Regional Emergency Medical Center played a role as a trauma center, actually, severely-injured patients had to be transferred to other hospitals for several reasons. Most reasons were related with the deficiencies in the trauma care system. If a mature trauma care system is well-organized, the numbers of transfer of severely injured patients will be reduced significantly.

• Journal of Trauma and Injury
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• 제20권2호
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• pp.96-100
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• 2007

Purpose: Trauma is the 5th most common leading cause of death in Korea, but there has been no appropriate management system for patients until now. We analyzed the main causes of death in trauma patients by comparing the characteristics of those patients with the characteristics of patients who survived. We feel this analysis should have a positive effect on the development of an appropriate trauma management system in Korea. Methods: We retrospectively reviewed trauma patients who had been admitted to the Department of General Surgery from February 2002 to February 2007. We compared several expected risk factors between the mortality and the survival group. Data on the transportation, arrival time at the emergency center, amount of transfusion, initial shock index, cause of death, and initial physical condition according to RTS (Revised trauma score), ISS (Injury severity score) and TRISS (Trauma and Injury Severity Score) were collected. Patients with ISS lower than 12 were excluded. Results: Three hundred sixty-six(366) patients with multiple injuries were included. There were 40 patients in the mortality group and 326 patients in the survival group. The mean arrival time (minutes) to emergency center was longer in the mortality group (137.6 vs 93.6 p 0.04). The total amount of transfusion (ml) was larger in the mortality group (7139 vs 2470 p 0.01). The initial shock index was higher in the mortality group (1.45 vs 1.17 p<0.01). The RTS, ISS, and TRISS were not statistically different between the groups. In the multivariate analysis, mean arrival time and initial shock index were important factors for survival. Conclusion: If the mortality rate of trauma patients is to be reduced, the arrival time at the emergency center should be minimized. Improvement of the emergency medical transfer service system is very important for achieving that.

• Archives of Plastic Surgery
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• 제47권3호
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• pp.223-227
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• 2020

Background After the laws regulating emergency medicine were amended in 2012, regional trauma centers were established in South Korea. Plastic surgeons specialize in the simultaneous surgical care of patients with facial trauma, burns, and complicated wounds. The objective of this study was to evaluate the role of the plastic surgery department in treating severe trauma patients. Methods From January 2012 to December 2018, we enrolled 366 severe trauma patients with an Injury Severity Score (ISS) over 15 who received treatment by specialists in the plastic surgery department. Of these patients, 298 (81.4%) were male, and their mean age was 51.35 years (range, 6-91 years). The average ISS was 22.01 points (range, 16-75 points). Results The most common diagnosis was facial trauma (95.1%), and facial bone fracture (65.9%) was most common injury within this subgroup. Patients were referred to 1.8 departments on average, with the neurosurgery department accounting for a high proportion of collaborations (37.0%). The most common cause of trauma was traffic accidents (62.3%), and the average length of stay in the general ward and intensive care unit was 36.90 and 8.01 days, respectively. Most patients were discharged home (62.0%) without additional transfer or readmission. Conclusions Through this study, we scoped out the role of the specialty of plastic surgery in the multidisciplinary team at regional trauma centers. These results may have implications for trauma system planning.